


Confidence

by queermoraghid (TheDoctorIsIcecube)



Series: Torna: The Golden Flufftry [3]
Category: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Major Spoilers, alcohol mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-07
Updated: 2018-08-07
Packaged: 2019-06-23 13:31:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15607329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDoctorIsIcecube/pseuds/queermoraghid
Summary: It was difficult to know which abilities Mikhail had until situations arose where he showed them.





	Confidence

**Author's Note:**

> Stop posting so much fanfic in a short space of time, you say?  
> ....I don't know what restraint is and it's nearly midnight

Mikhail’s blade abilities tended to spill over when he was feeling strong emotions. If he was worried, or upset, or angry, light tended to fade, but it never hurt anyone (other than the odd stubbed toe, because Jin couldn’t see in the dark like Malos and Mikhail seemed to be able to). It was a good job that he couldn’t hurt anyone, because it happened fairly frequently; Mik was a kid who’d been through some hard times. He wasn’t the most emotionally stable of people. The only thing that hadn’t ever manifested was his blade weapon- assuming he even had a blade weapon at all. With his strange and quite possibly unique situation, there was no way of knowing what was going to happen if he ever tried to summon a weapon. 

Working out what parts of Mikhail were and weren’t typical for blades was a challenge, especially as Mik absolutely loathed ever referencing how he experienced ether, and if he noticed that his abilities were leaking, he tended to get more upset. This wasn’t helped by the fact that they didn’t know if his trouble sleeping was because he was a kid, because he was getting nightmares, or because he was sort of a blade and therefore didn’t need as much sleep. It was tough. Jin felt almost like a helpless parent, although that would make Malos his co-parent, and he really didn’t know how to feel about that. 

Mik’s frequent sleeplessness led to quite a few late-night trips to the market. It was a decent walk away, and by the time they’d walked down there, bought something, and walked back, Mikhail was usually tired enough to go to sleep. Thinking that, Jin really did feel like a struggling parent. What had his life come to?

The city was fairly quiet at this time of night, but there were always people or titans around that they had to watch out for and make sure that they weren’t being watched too closely. Mikhail would walk in between the two of them, either chatting animatedly or just walking in complete silence, depending on his mood. Today was a silence day, but Jin didn’t mind much- he was tired, too, so the peace and quiet was welcome.

Maybe they looked a bit strange; two men and one boy, all of whom looked completely different, walking in complete silence down darkened streets. But it had quickly become something that was normal for them. The comfortable silence, the easy pace. They made it down to the marketplace easily, and headed down to the stand where the shopkeeper was probably getting ready to pack all the vegetables away. Jin chatted with him for a moment, and managed to get a few good deals on some almost-overripe fruit. Mik had wandered off a short distance, although he knew Malos would be keeping an eye on the kid. Neither of them ever let Mikhail out of their sight for long.

But that was, of course, the moment when some drunk arsehole decided to enter the street. He stumbled through, singing a loud and incredibly obnoxious song Jin recognised from a few Ardainian mercs he’d had contacts with. He wandered down the street, and Jin realised all too late that Mikhail was standing in that same street with his back to the man, examining something above him.

He shouted out a warning, but a second too late- the man stumbled into Mikhail, sending his much smaller frame tumbling to the floor. Jin winced, almost certain that they were about to be treated to a city-wide blackout until morning. He’d never seen what happened when Mik actually got injured, but he had a feeling it would be spectacular.

Instead, what met his eyes was quite different. Mik cried out, the air around them darkened, and then...the drunk man let out an angry cry. “You shit!” He shouted, stumbling away. “Someone get this blade away from me, he attacked me!”

Jin felt frozen with fear for what would happen next. Assault was a big deal and he couldn’t see from here how much damage Mik had actually done to the man. But Malos stepped up immediately. “Sorry about Mikhail,” he said, his voice that smooth but dangerous tone again. “I moved here from a war zone. He’s a very jumpy blade, and you did knock him to the ground.”

The drunk man looked like he was considering arguing back, but instead he just spat on the ground and hastily lumbered away, holding his arm. Jin could see a shallow cut on his skin- how the hell had Mikhail managed to do that? He certainly wasn’t carrying any weapons. He glanced back at the shopkeeper, who’d already moved on to packing his stuff away, and then approached the dark spot at the edge of the street.

“Mik?” He said softly. When Mikhail got worried, he let out his power by accident, and when that happened he tended to get distressed. This could very easily form into a blackout if Jin wasn’t very careful. He made his footsteps slow and gave them a pattern. “Is everything okay?”

“I’m fine,” came a small, hard voice from in the darkness. Then, there was a flash of blue, and Mikhail emerged from the darkness, clearing it away with two electric blue fans. Jin stared at them for a moment, and then it clicked. Blade weapons. 

“You-” Jin didn’t quite know what to say or how to react. Mik didn’t seem to mind that he’d summoned the weapons, but his mood could change very quickly if Jin said the wrong thing. “You, ah, might want to put those away. In case a security titan shows up.”

“I don’t know how,” Mikhail admitted. He didn’t really look like he wanted to put his weapons away any time soon, anyway. He seemed fascinated by the blue glow of them, and he kept spinning them in his hands so that the light made patterns in the air. So much for him hating his powers.

“We can sort it out back at the inn,” Jin decided. “I’ll give them back, but if you could hand them to me for now, I can keep them hidden.” He could destroy the weapon, but the look of fascination on Mikhail’s face and the confidence in his voice was something entirely new. He wanted to preserve that.

Mikhail hesitated, then folded the fans up and handed them to Jin. Upon closer inspection, Jin could see that although the edges of the fan looked like feathers, they were actually razor-sharp. No wonder he’d been able to wound that drunk man so easily. “Interesting that there are two of them,” he said.

Mikhail nodded, smiling slightly. There wasn’t even a trace of the streetlights flickering or disturbances in the houses lining the street. Everything was fine. Maybe he’d just been missing that conduit to control his power until now. “I don’t know why they showed up, I just...got scared when that guy pushed me over, and then the weapon crystals just kinda- appeared.” He glanced down at his shirt, where his core crystal hid. “Maybe this thing isn’t so bad… I kinda like the fans.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you've enjoyed or not enjoyed this, a comment is appreciated :)


End file.
